Berdell was at the center of a controversy in town over the past year regarding up to $169K in uncollected school lunch fees that in turn led to a couple of critical audits of the school business operations. Questions were also raised about an unwritten policy that Berdell and another town employee were able to use to get paid for unused time off.

“The reason for the change of status is deemed a personnel matter and there will be no further public comment at this time,” Wong said in an e-mail statement released to the press.

Berdell herself has kept out of the public eye during the controversies.